Why can't I simply drag photos to my desktop with Sierra 10.12 and Photos 2.0?

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Level 1

14 points

Why can't I simply drag photos to my desktop with Sierra 10.12 and Photos 2.0?

I used to be able to simply drag a photo from Photos or iPhoto straight to my iMac's desktop. Then I was able to drag those photos located on my desktop to eBay, Craigslist or any of the other sites I use to sell items. Now, it seems I have to use the circuitous route of first exporting the photos to desktop, opening finder, clicking on desktop and THEN dragging them to my iMac desktop. Am I missing something or is this the new method for moving photos to my iMac's desktop. I apologize for what may be an extremely silly question but I can't help but feel that I've lost the ability to use my iMac and Photos efficiently. Any help or suggestions are greatl

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.2

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 4:16 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

spupilup1 Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 23, 2016 4:42 PM in response to spupilup1

Well, when I ran Disk Utility I discovered I had a badly corrupted version of Sierra. I downloaded Sierra again when I couldn't repair the version I had on the HD. Now, all is back to normal. I can drag photos from Photos 2.0 directly to my desktop like I could before.

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Sep 23, 2016 6:29 AM in response to spupilup1

Of course the media browser is an easier and better way to do this - in the upload/attach/open window toward teh bottom under Media ==> photos ==> Photos select your desired photo and upload directly with no intermediate steps

Dragging to the desktop is the worst way as you have no control at all and only get a medium quality preview with limited metadata - either exporting or the media browser give you better results

LN

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,597 points

Sep 23, 2016 5:07 AM in response to spupilup1

Dragging from the Photos browser to the Desktop is still working for me. As soon as I drag to an empty space on the Desktop the pointer changes to a green "+" and I can drop the photo there.

If it is not working for you, there might be something problematic about the photos you are trying to drag. Can the photos be edited or exported? What is the file type of the photos you are trying to drag and drop?

Are you using iCloud Photo Library? Do you have iCloud enabled to sync your Desktop and Documents folder with iCloud?

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Answer 4

Feb 16, 2017 8:05 PM in response to LarryHN

Where is Media? I am using El Capitain.

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Answer 5

Aug 7, 2017 11:19 AM in response to spupilup1

I had the same issue. I had to force quiet and restart my FINDER, then it worked. Here is a good article on it.

http://osxdaily.com/2015/09/07/drag-and-drop-not-working-mac-os-x-troubleshootin g/

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